All Hallows: A Cautionary Tale About Crowdfunding (?)

All Hallows was under the gun, fighting for survival.  GoFundMe was but one way of donating.  In the final statement of the "Help Save All Hallows High School" page the school's president, Ron Schutte, states, "As a 501(c)(3) organization, donations are generally non-refundable per GoFundMe policy.  Donors will have received a tax receipt from PayPal Giving Fund at the time of their donation. These funds are typically irrevocable and undesignated, meaning that refunds could have tax implications for both the charity and the donor."

So here are my concerns about rasing funds to "save". a parish, a school, a church:

• Should causes present explicit operational definitions of "save" so donors have a clearer sense of what they are backing?
• Should causes raise money for specific phases of an endeavor, like having engineering consultations and estimates for repair, canonical appeals, landmark designation so they can contribute to the phase that they believe is the most effective?

Very often the parishes, churches and schools that we are trying to save were built on the backs of donors with empty pockets:  working extra shifts, eating mustard sandwiches, etc, to create something that they believed in strongly and thought would endure for generations of their descendants.

Now the descendants, literal and figurative, are engaged in the same process to maintain and save these entities.  While there may be some well-heeled mega-donors whose motivation may be sentiment, principle or personal advantage, the majority of people contributing to these causes are equal or a few steps up in affluence from the original contributors.  They may be brown-bagging lunches or working a side hustle ot put money in the Sunday envelope to keep their parish open or doing the same to pay the parochial school tuition.

An attempt to "save" something this important is a sacred trust.  Causes need to give everyone the fullest of disclosure, make the most considered decisions regarding action and give donors the best shot at success because they are giving money out of love.  And love should never be squandered.

A very Sad Day: All Hallows Tosses in the Towel

My love, John, passed away last year on 1/9.  The one year anniversary of his funeral will occur in 2 days.  He would have been stunned and saddened by the irretrievable loss of his beloved alma mater, All Hallows High School.  I used to joke that his graduating class was a very good year for men, like fine wines.  I'm sure a lot of women who ended up paired with All Hallows men of any year would concur.

The school admitted women for the first time in its history in September, providing a home for the displaced young women of St. Barnabas.  Now they will have to find another school in which to complete their patchwork education.  We are a pilgrim Church, indeed.

Here is a statement from Ron Schutte, All Hallows President, taken as a screenshot from their Go Fund Me page:

Demolition Deferred for Church of St. Paul and Holy Rosary on 119th Street in East Harlem? Paywall HELP! Please.

According to a Crain's item dated January 15th, Fate of historic Harlem church slated for demolition now uncertain.  The subtitle is "a Harlem church may be having second thoughts about turning over its century old stone-walled building to a developer."  The tantalizing nugget that fades to nothing reads, "The Roman Catholic Church and Holy Rosary has backed out of an agreement to sell its longtime home at 442 and 444 E. 119th St to Queens-based Kahen Developement Group, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan state Supreme Court..."

The last time this church/transaction warranted a news item was in August, 2024 when Gothamist disclosed the archdiocese's intention to sell:Archdiocese of NY plans to sell 124-year-old East Harlem church to property developer 

If any of my 10 readers can help me claw my way behind the paywall, I would be very grateful.  In the meanwhile I'll blow the dust of one of my decades-overdue books and throw myself on the mercy of the public library.

A Harlem church may be having second thoughts about turning over its century-old stone-walled building to a developer.
 Harlem church may be having second thoughts about turning over its century-old stone-walled building to a developer.

The Roman Catholic Church of Saint Paul and Holy Rosary has backed out of an agreement to sell its longtime home at 442 and 444 E. 119th St. to Queens-based up, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Manhattan state Supreme Court. 

THE RECKONING: National Catholic Reporter Launches a Series on the Consequences of the Abuse Crisis

"The Catholic Church has spent billions of dollars settling claims from sexual abuse cases. NCR first exposed the abuse scandal in stories first reported 40 years ago. In 2025, NCR is investigating the costs to Catholics, parishes and the church in its new series "The Reckoning."

If you have any tips, leads, suggestions or information about the costs of the sexual abuse scandal on Catholics, orders, parishes, communities, dioceses or the church, please email ncr_editor@ncronline.org with the subject line "The Reckoning."

Kinky Friedman Will Sing from Beyond the Grave

Joshua Merwin for The New York Times

Life is too short to be guilty about pleasures and to waste on acquiring tastes, so I will own up to being an admirer of Kinky Friedman. I enjoyed seeing him at the Lone Star and I enjoyed his novels because the home base of his protagonist was a stone's throw away from Our Lady of Vilnius in a barely fictitious address on Vandam Street. I always considered him to be the clownish astral twin of Leonard Cohen. Now the album he was working on as he approached death is being released and I am going to listen.

Keep an ear out for "The Poet of Motel 6," scheduled for release on March 21st.

Read all about it in The New York Times: Satirical Singer Kinky Friedman’s Posthumous Surprise: A Sincere Album

Yonkers Times: Archdiocese of New York Sues Yonkers to Remove Landmark Protection from St. Mary's

 

The Yonkers Times has caught wind of the Archdiocese of New York's suit against the City of Yonkers to remove landmark status from St. Mary's:

Archdiocese of NY Sues the City of Yonkers to Remove St. Mary’s Landmark Protection

The strange case of the Ward House in Tuckahoe: Can a developer make an end run on landmark status?

Apparently an interior demo permit was issued without a certificate of appropriateness from Tuckahoe's Historic Preservation Commission, allowing the developer to potentially degrade the historic value of the structure.

Read all about it in Yonkers Daily Voice: Historic Landmark Faces 'Unlawful' Demolition Amid Legal Dispute In Tuckahoe: Nonprofit

Learn more about the Ward House Effort: Friends of the Ward House

Scenes from the Last Mass at Immaculate Mary in Wilkes Barre, PA

Local TV coverage of last Mass at St. Mary's in Wilkes-Barre, PA.  The stoic response of the two longstanding parishioners is especially moving.

Wilkes-Barre church holds final mass

Singing Out the Christmas Season at St. Mary's

I am always sad to see Christmastide end.  As a child I bawled when the tree was dismembered for efficient disposal.  I guess that I am still that kid, because I did not take photos of the side altar where the creche was absent and the poinsettias were corraled to await adoption. 

This Sunday's Mass celebrated the Lord's baptism.  Salt was mixed with the holy water and we received a liberally sprinkled blessing from Father McCarthy, who had to cover a lot of territory in a church of this size.

Liturgical music is important to me, so my heart leapt with recognition when I recognized "Gdy sie Chrystus rodzi" as the organ prelude.  This is a Polish carol that I had sung for years at St. Stanislaus Kostka, but have not heard since.  Kevin played and sang us out with "Joy to World," an appropriate way to go forth.

You can watch the archived livestream on Facebook

Growing the Faith: Transifiguation School in Tarrytown Opens Again Serving the Youngest

"This school year spells out hope and resilience for the community mere months after the school was shut down. The rebound is a testament to all the effort and love that was put into creating this Catholic education for the community’s youngest."- Aura Zelaya, Religious Education Coordinator.

Read all about in the River Journal:Transfiguration Parish School Pivots and Returns as a Private School

St Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Wilkes Barre PA to have its last Mass on Sunday

In a parallel universe (Pennsylvania), parishioners of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Wilkes-Barre, PA will attend their last Mass on Sunday.

There are many parallels to Immaculate Mary of Yonkers:

"St. Mary’s of the Immaculate Conception was founded in 1845 and over the next several decades, became the “mother church” for Catholics in the Wyoming Valley."

In addition, "The 1872 church, reportedly built in part by parishioners after they came home from working in the mines, was described by the Wilkes-Barre Record newspaper as “one of the most grand and imposing edifices in the state.”

Very sad that these magnificent structures built by people of modest means for the honor and glory of God are now being shuttered and possibly razed with little apparent regret by our dioceses.

Read all about it in the Times Leader: Final Mass planned at St. Mary’s Church